The Notebook
by paper-crane-master
Summary: Wanda is slowly losing her memory, so she asks Ian to write their story in a notebook. He agrees and is now reading it to her, their children, and their grandchildren. There's a better summary inside. Please read and review.


**Summary: This is The Host, in The Notebook form. Wanda has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, and is slowly losing her memory. She learns that Ian and herself has kept journals and all the letters that they wrote throughout their entire lives together, and she asks Ian to write their story in a notebook. He does and is now reading their story to Wanda, their children, and their grandchildren. You don't have to read A Letter to Ian, although it's a short story preface, kinda. A well earned thanks is deserved for ForeverUnwritten, who helped me greatly with this story. I don't own The Host, and some of the dialogue is from the last few chapters.**

Preface/Chapter1: The Beginning (Ian's POV)

Ian cleared his throat, and looked at all the members of his family. They all sat in front of him wearing curious expressions. They all wanted to hear their parents or grandparents story. With that Ian decided to start.

"_I truly love you too, my Wanderer."..._

I Held her in my arms, just as I would for the rest of our lives.I yearned for the feel of her lips on mine. My lips traveled down her face, looking for her lips. When I found them I gave a kiss, sweeter then before. It was soft and gentle, and the fire burned me within. She had finally stop shaking.

"Sleep, it for tomorrow. It will keep for the night."

She nodded her face against mine and sighed.

I laid there with her in my arms until sleep finally took me.I wish now that I hadn't fallen asleep, even though the outcome turned out for the better.

I woke up slowly. I shifted my arm, an effort that should have resulted in my arm draped over Wanda. My arm landed on the bed, jolting myself heart started to race and my breaths came out shallow. I glace around the room, and my heart constricts. She's gone. She went to Doc.

I run down the caves, faster then I have ever ran before. All the people's faces are a blur, and I can't distinguish who they are, but I don't care. I don't want to know who they are. I don't want their pity. All I want is Wanda. _My _Wanda.

I round the corner and entered the hospital. Between desperate gulps of air I manage to coherently ask the only thing that mattered, "Where is Wanda?"

The men in the hospital nervously glance at each other before looking back at me. Doc gave me an agonizing and apologetic look before answering, "I'm so sorry Ian," He said faltering, "If I knew that you didn't know, I would have waited, and she begged me to."

"Begged you to what?" I ask flatly. He just gives me a more sympathetic look. "Begged you to do _what_?" I demand.

"To let her die. She wanted to die." All the control I ever had broke. I dimly remember sliding down the wall, no longer strong enough to stand. A straggled cry came out of me, and I realized that it was my heart breaking. I blocked out all noise, I wanted to dwell by myself in my grief. I felt as though I was dying. At that moment I lost the will to live.

Tears streamed down my face but I made no move to wipe them off. Doc knelt down in front. He face was full of panic, not an common look for him. His voice raised into a shout until I could hear him, "Ian! Ian! Stay with me. I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill her. She's alive, in the tank over there."

My head snaps up and I glace at the place he is pointing. Sitting there is an occupied tank. Sitting there is Wanda. I jumped up and rush toward the tank. The air around the tank was cold, but despite of it, I held it tight. I laid on the cot, still holing my Wanda. Then a strong sense of ease came over.

When I felt calm enough, and had my breathing back to normal, I glanced around the room. A few beds over laid Wanda's host. I could tell that it was Melanie. I didn't feel drawn to her. Sitting beside her was an anxious Jared.

When I saw him I gritted my teeth out of anger. He didn't care for Wanda at all. He just let her on the cot by herself, not bothering to wake me up. Jared looked up from Melanie and caught my eye. My anger dimmed when I saw his face. He wore a face of joy, one I had never expected to see on his face. All the worry that had been permanently drawn on his face was gone. It's hard to hate anyone with so much happiness and content.

He gave me a sad smile, knowing just how I felt. I looked away quickly holding tighter to the tank. My eyes landed on Kyle, desperately trying to wake Jodi up. His face was contorted in pain, and I knew my face held a similar look. He looked up and mouth the same words I was about to tell him, "I'm sorry."

I glanced away, not wanting to hear his pity. My eyes, one again landed on Melanie. She took even breaths, until one large intake of air. Her hands, laying beside her, griped the sheets on the cot. Her eyes were shedding tears faster by the second. Then she let out a scream. It filled the room with the pain of it, before abruptly cutting off. The room still ringed with it.

She jerked strangely into a sitting position, causing her to run into Jared's chest. She gripped the shirt tightly, and started sobbing into it. I looked away, it would have been rude for me to watch their reunion. She painfully repeated one line over and over. "She's gone, she's gone."

Jared voice raised, so that it could be heard over her crying. "Mel! Listen to me. She didn't die, she's still here." Melanie glance around the room before glaring at Jared, he spoke quickly to avoid her anger, "Ian has her."

I lazily look up at the mention of my name. Melanie's eyes were fixed on the tank. "Is that her?" she asks Jared. He nods. Melanie swings her legs over the side of the bed and walks toward me. She stopped in front of me and lifts her hands as if asking to hold her. I grip the tank closer, and meet her eyes. She winced at what she saw. I must have looked horrible. We stood there for a few minutes, before she slowly drops her hands.

Her voice rings out, even though it's only a whisper, "I'm so sorry Ian. I tried to stop her, but she wouldn't listen. She loves you though, more then you can imagine."

"I love her too." I whisper back.

"Well, we need to think of a plan, because I am not letting my sister leave me again." Melanie demands.

Jared nods, and I can tell that he is already coming up with a plan. Melanie is listing the qualities that Wanda should have, and I just tuned them out. I was going to have my Wanda back, and that is all that matters. I was caught up in my thinking that I didn't even realize that the people around me were calling my name.

"Ian! Ian!!" I looked up and saw that it was Melanie calling my name. "It's about time. We were going to go on a raid to find Wanda, do you want to go?"

I was shaking my head before she finished, "I'll love her no matter the way she looks." I whisper.

Melanie smiled softly at my words, before turning to Jared, "Are you ready?"

"You just woke up Baby. Can't it wait till tomorrow?"

"But, it's my sister." Melanie whined.

"Just one night. You and me."

Melanie's face turned a deep red color. "Jared Howe! Are you telling that I should let poor Wanda and Ian suffer just so you can get laid!" She huffed. I would have laughed at any other time, but I was too distracted.

Jared didn't answer at first, but replied with a classic, "But, Baby." Which got even more laughs.

Then Doc spoke up, "Actually, Melanie, I think it would be better if you waited till tomorrow."

She glared at him, but reluctantly agreed. Jared on the other hand smiled smugly and pulled Melanie into his arms. She looked at him with a look of pure joy. Everyone looked away and started drifting out of the hospital. It was Jared's and Melanie's time to be alone.

I sat up and took Wanda's tank and left the room. I needed to get out of there.

A gentle knocking woke me up. I gripped Wanda's tank tighter, and just as I was sitting up Melanie and Jared entered my room. Melanie went over to Jamie, who was temporary in my room, and began to try to wake him up. Jared and I watched her before he turn and asked me, "Are you sure you don't want to go? You know her just as well if not better, then we do."

I shook my head and reply, "No, I don't care about how her body looks. I love her inner beauty." My voice comes out raspy from lack of use and crying. Jared nods.

"We need to leave." he replies to Melanie and Jamie.

"Ok," Melanie tells Jared, "Can I talk to Ian for a second?" A pained expression reaches his face, before Melanie pats his hand in reassurance. Jamie and he leave, and only Melanie and I remain. She comes and sits beside me. She curls up and holds her knees to her chest. We sat there for a few minutes before she decided to talk.

"I miss her. She knows me better then I do. What if she gets mad at us, or if she hates us? I don't think I can live with that." She silently starts to cry.

I didn't know what to do, but the words finally came to me, "If Wanda knows you better then you do, shouldn't you know her better then she knows herself? With that, think about it, deep down you know the answer. Does she want to come back?"

Melanie thought hard for a minute then smiled, "She would want to be here, for me, for Jamie, and especially for you." Melanie paused for a second before continuing, "You know, despite our differences, you're actually not a bad guy." For the first time since yesterday I felt like I could smile and roll my eyes. Melanie and I were having our "bonding" moment, but of course she had to ruin it. "Although, if you ever hurt Wanda, I swear that you that your fate will be worse than death." She flashed me an evil look before leaving Wanda and me in peace.

I wish I could say that life went on in the caves, but truthfully I have no clue. I stayed in the hospital the entire time they were looking for a new host for Wanda. I only left to get food and to clean up. I didn't like to leave, because Jared might be back at any time, and I wanted to be there to greet them.

I knew I was growing more haggard looking as the days went on. I ate little, not tasting what I forced down my throat. I was pale from worry. The only one who seemed to share my grief was poor Lily. She sat with me some days, neither speaking. Just enjoying the company of another grieving soul.

Time passed slowly in the caves. I didn't pay attention to what was happening in the caves, except for what happened in our small hospital. Jodi hadn't come back yet, and Doc was afraid she was going to die. So Sunny got a second chance to live, just like Wanda will.

A few weeks later, and still no news from Jared. Everyone was beginning to get nervous. Eventually I could hear the scrambling of people running down the long hallway. I looked up to see the Jared entering the room with someone slung on his shoulders.

The poor girl was small and angelic. She had a look that screamed innocence. Her golden hair made the angelic look. It floated around her face like a beautiful halo. She had light freckles dotting her face. I felt guilty for a minute about taking this poor, innocent girl's life. I tried to convince myself that if she didn't wake up like Jodi that it wouldn't matter, but it still felt wrong.

Jared laid the girl on the cot, and a small group of people gathered in the hospital. They sat on the cots that were not already occupied. We all waited for Doc to finish getting ready to preform the surgery.

There was only five of us. The surgery lasted only about twenty minutes. Afterward people slowly drifted out. Before she left, Melanie came up and patted me on the shoulder. "You'll get her back soon enough." She whispered before disappearing into the dark cave.

I moved closer to the girl and began to whisper to her. She deserved a chance to live. Wanda had gotten to me, but of course it was for the better. The time passed slowly and I hoped the girl would wake up, but in the back of my mind I prayed that the human who owed this body would never claim it again.

Before I knew it a week had passed and Doc decided that the human would not wake up. He approached me and told me the great news. He finally told me I would get my Wanderer back.. I smiled largely at the news. I suddenly got nervous though. What if she was mad and didn't want to stay? Or a bigger issue, what if she lied to me and really doesn't love me and leaves me forever?

I push all the questions to the back of my mind and carried her tank to the girl's body. We had a larger crowd this time, because nearly everyone wanted to greet Wanda when she woke up. I held her tank gently and swiftly nodded to Doc. He made the incision on her neck, and held his open to receive Wanda. I opened the tank and hesitated. I wanted to put Wanda into her new body. I voiced my desire and Doc smiled and nodded.

I lift her gently out of the tank and my breath caught. She is beautiful. She had a graceful look to her even in this form. I heard the murmurs of the other people who must have agreed with me. I slide her into the girl's neck and took the hand of her. I held onto the hand of my love, Wanda. She was going to be with me soon enough.

**So what did you think? Well either way review, that is a command. Review even if you didn't like it. I need to know how I can improve. Of course review if you liked it. All opinions welcomed, but no flames. Review!!**


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